ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
General Kenneth Nichols and the Manhattan Project
Nichols
The Oak Ridger has published the latest in a series of articles about General Kenneth D. Nichols, the Manhattan Project, and the 1954 Atomic Energy Act. The series has been produced by Nichols’ grandniece Barbara Rogers Scollin and Oak Ridge (Tenn.) city historian David Ray Smith. Gen. Nichols (1907–2000) was the district engineer for the Manhattan Engineer District during the Manhattan Project.
As Smith and Scollin explain, Nichols “had supervision of the research and development connected with, and the design, construction, and operation of, all plants required to produce plutonium-239 and uranium-235, including the construction of the towns of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Richland, Washington. The responsibility of his position was massive as he oversaw a workforce of both military and civilian personnel of approximately 125,000; his Oak Ridge office became the center of the wartime atomic energy’s activities.”
Mitsuo Manaka
Nuclear Technology | Volume 143 | Number 3 | September 2003 | Pages 335-346
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT03-A3421
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Immediately after the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste, the oxygen initially existing in the repository is expected to strongly affect the redox condition of the near field. The oxygen dissolves in the groundwater, is transported by diffusion through it, and is consumed by the oxidation of pyrite as an impurity in bentonite. To assess the influence of the oxygen, this study was conducted to estimate the diffusion of dissolved oxygen (DO) and the rate of pyrite oxidation by DO in compacted purified and crude sodium bentonites (SBs) in more detail than the Manaka et al. study. The effective diffusion coefficient (De) of DO in the compacted purified SB was measured in low ionic strength solution (carbonate buffered solution with pH ~ 9) using the electrochemical method. The empirical equation between De value of DO and dry density (0.5 × 103-1.8 × 103 kg m-3) of purified SB was obtained as follows:DeDOKunipia-F = 8.2 ± 1.5 × 10-10× exp(-2.6 ± 0.2 ×10-3,where DeDOKunipia-F is the De of DO in compacted purified SB (Kunipia F) (m2 s-1) and is the dry density of the SB (kg m-3).On the other hand, the De value of DO in the compacted crude SB was estimated using the relationship between De values of tritiated water in compacted purified and crude SBs. The empirical equation between the De value of DO and dry density (0.5 × 103-1.8 × 103 kg m-3) of crude SB was derived as follows:DeDOKunigel-V1 = 2.04 × 10-9 exp(-2.6 × 10-3),where DeDOKunigel-V1 is the De of DO in compacted crude SB (Kunigel V1) (m2 s-1) and is the dry density of the SB (kg m-3).The rates of pyrite oxidation by DO were estimated from the experimental data in pyrite-purified SB systems using the obtained De values of DO. The relation between rate constant (k') of pyrite oxidation by DO and dry density () of the SB was derived as follows:k' = 3.9 ± 1.1 × 10-8 exp(-1.3 ± 0.3 × 10-3),where k' is the rate constant at pH ~ 9 in compacted purified SB of dry density ranging from 0.8 × 103 to 1.2 × 103 kg m-3.The rate constants of pyrite oxidation by DO in the compacted crude SB (0.8 × 103 to 1.2 × 103 kg m-3) were also calculated using the estimated De values of DO. In general, the values of rate constants in the crude SB are 1.5 times as large as that in the purified SB.
